among its professors men of great reputation: Orioli, professor of physics; Valeriani, of public economy; the celebrated Mezzofanti, of Oriental languages. The two Aldini, nephews of the celebrated Galvani, were also professors under the kingdom of Italy. There are five faculties in this university, that of belles lettres being distinct from that of philosophy. The former has the following chairs, oratory, poetry, ancient history, archæology, Greek, Hebrew, SyroChaldæan, Arabic. The medical sciences are still the most zealously cultivated. Bologna is peculiar for having had at various times female professors; in the fourteenth century Novella di Andrea used to supply her father's place in the chair of canon law, and, as she was young and handsome, she is said to have had a curtain before her, that the attention of the students might not be distracted; in the last century Laura Bassi taught philosophy, and still more lately, the celebrated Clotilde Tambroni, Greek; and at the present moment there are two female professors, one of law and the other of surgery. The number of students amounts to between five and six hundred. The professors are by no means so well paid as those of Pavia, yet several of them have refused splendid offers abroad, and preferred continuing their services to their native city. Such feelings are not uncom mon in Italy.

The library of the university contains 80,000 printed volumes, and 4000 MSS. Pope Benedict XIV. (Lambertini) built the present structure, and bequeathed to it his own library. There is also a botanical garden, and an agrarian garden, where a course of agriculture is given. In the Roman states south of the Apennines, Rome and Perugia are the only two cities where sciences and literature are cultivated. Of the education at Rome we have treated already in No. I. of this Journal. Perugia, with a population of about 20,000 inhabitants, has its university, which was famed in the middle ages. The celebrated jurisconsults, Bartolo and Baldo, gave lectures there.

Of the popular education in the Roman states we speak from recollection. It is in the hands of the clergy. Almost every curate or assistant gives instruction, for a trifling fee, to a certain number of boys of the parish, in reading, writing, and the elements of Latin grammar. There is no compulsion, however, but attendance at the catechism instructions in the parish church on Sunday afternoon is enforced. There is an examination, also, previous to being admitted to receive the sacrament. Many of the unprovided clergy give instruction either at their own houses, or by repairing to those of their

more affluent pupils. Several monastic orders devote themselves to the instruction of youth, the Scolopii (Scolarum Piarum), the Ignorantelli, the Filippini, etc. They open classes, gratis, for a certain number of boys, whom they teach calligraphy, grammar, and arithmetic. In the towns elementary education is thus made accessible to all classes, but the case is different in the country, and, upon the whole, there can be no comparison between this irregular eleemosynary sort of instruction and the methodical and complete system established in Lombardy.

We come now to the last division of Italy, the united kingdom of Naples and Sicily. It was in this country, in the midst of the general ignorance of the middle ages, that several bold investigating minds first opposed the then allpowerful scholastic philosophy; Telesio, Bruno, and Campanella, and afterwards Vico and Genovesi, combated, and at last overthrew, the old system. When the Jesuits were expelled from the kingdom in 1767, Genovesi was consulted by the minister Tanucci about a new method of public studies, and the plan he proposed was in a great measure adopted. The chair of scholastic philosophy was suppressed, and chairs of physics, mathematics, and history were established. A course of political economy had already been opened at Naples in 1754, a professorship of this science having been founded by Intieri, a Florentine, and, contrary to the then general practice, the lectures were delivered in Italian. Genovesi, who was appointed first professor of this new science, opened the course by his 'Lectures on Commerce.'

The university, or Studj publici,' of Naples, serves for the continental part of the kingdom. It is under the direction of the government; the professors are indiscriminately clerical or lay men. There are four classes,-law, medicine, philosophy, and theology. The first is the one most attended to; but medicine and surgery produce also clever pupils.

There is in every chief provincial town, such as Salerno, Cosenza, Lecce, Aquila, &c., a college or lyceum, on the plan of those of North Italy, for preparatory instruction, and especially for the classical studies. That of Salerno has the greatest reputation. There are also seminaries for boarders, whether intended for the ecclesiastical profession or not.

The popular or elementary instruction is in the hands of the clergy, and the Jesuits have also, since their re-establishment in 1822, opened day-schools for the instruction of youth gratis, but they have not been allowed to re-open their former colleges for lay boarders. The Scolopj have also schools as in other parts of Italy. Some attempts were

made to establish Lancasterian schools at Naples, but they seem to have failed.

Greater activity has been displayed in Sicily. There are in that island primary and secondary schools, encouraged by the intendenti or king's lieutenants, and by the nobility. In the province of Catania the method of mutual instruction has been adopted. In these popular schools, besides reading, writing, and arithmetic, the pupils are taught linear drawing and the geography of Sicily. A school for females has also been opened at Catania. In the principal towns are lyceums, and at Palermo and Catania are universities. In the former of the last mentioned cities a school of navigation was instituted by the celebrated astronomer Father Piazzi. The university of Palermo reckons among its professors the learned Scinà, known for several works on the history and literature of Sicily, as well as for scientific treatises. The Elements of Physical Sciences,' and his work on general physics, are perhaps the best works of the kind that have appeared in Italy. Professor Ferrara fills the chair of natural history; he is known for his History of Etna' and his works on mineralogy. Professor Scuderi, of the university of Catania, is known for his work on the Forests of Etna,' and other works on the botany and mineralogy of that interesting region. Professor Alessi and the Benedictine Don G. B. la Via have also published works on the geology and mineralogy of their country.

6

The Academia Gioenia for natural sciences at Catania has published already four volumes of memoirs. The Journal of Sciences, Letters, and Arts,' has also many interesting papers on the natural phenomena, agriculture, public economy, and the antiquities of Sicily.

EDUCATION IN RUSSIA.

THE early history of the Russians has come down to us only in the form of fables and traditions; yet there is evidence enough, that has escaped the ravages of time, to prove that some parts of this vast empire were inhabited, at a very remote period, by nations possessing a certain degree of civilization. The ruins of large towns, and existing monuments in the government of Perm, furnish us with one proof at least of the greatness and power of the ancient empire of Biarmie ; but the history of this empire and of the neighbouring states is buried in the obscurity of past ages.

The Slaves who, from the south-east, overran the country

now called Russia, together with Poland, Bohemia, Hungary Moravia, and extended themselves as far as the Adriatic, were divided into two classes. It was the business of one class to defend their new possessions, while the other was occupied in cultivating the ground. But this relationship did not long continue in its original form; the men who had arms in their hands soon gave law to the cultivators of the soil, and thus arose the two classes of seigneurs and serfs. In such a state of society, exhibiting the contrast of the most absolute tyranny and the most degrading servitude, we must not expect to find any indications of attempts to diffuse knowledge and education.

The expeditions into Greece, which the Russians undertook about A. D. 851 and 854, brought them into contact with the European civilization of that period, and, though they failed in their immediate objects, the remote consequences were beneficial. Great numbers perished in battle; but a few who survived, adopted the Christian religion and settled in Constantinople or its neighbourhood. Some of these afterwards returned to Russia, taking with them Christian priests, the holy scriptures, and other religious works in the Greek language. About 942 the Princess Olga, wife of the Russian Prince Igor, adopted the Christian religion, and her example was followed by a great number of Russians. At last Wladimir I. declared himself in favour of the new faith, which he confirmed as the national religion.

From this epoch we may reckon the commencement of education in Russia, but it was only a few individuals, fortunately situated, who could derive any advantage from the newly introduced learning. The mass of the nation continued in their ignorance. In fact, from the time of the introduction of the Greek religion to the fifteenth century we scarcely perceive any traces of a national education. The use of the compass, and the invention of printing and gunpowder, which have accelerated modern civilization in so wonderful a manner, were not known in Russia till about fifty years after they were diffused through the rest of Europe. But about this time the Germans, Italians, French, and English began to introduce into Russia their science, their arts, and their industry; and to the same period we may refer the establishment of certain schools at Moscow and Kiew.

At the commencement of the seventeenth century the Czar Michel Feodorowitsch, the first prince of the house of Romanow who was elected Czar (A.D. 1613), favoured the establishment of schools; and his grandson, Peter, did still

more for this department of the national administration. But it is to Catharine II. that Russia is indebted for establishing public instruction on a more solid basis. In his fits of despotic fury, Paul I. had conceived the idea of destroying every trace of education; but the madness of such a design, where knowledge has once been introduced, is fortunately checked by the impossibility of effecting it. It was about the close of the reign of Paul I. that a plan was formed for a general re-organization of public instruction, but it was not carried into effect till the commencement of Alexander's reign, A.D. 1801. This new organization is at present the basis on which all the public instruction of Russia is founded; and we have only to lament that it has lost somewhat of its original tone of liberality by the introduction of various changes and additional regulations, framed in that spirit of absolutism to which Alexander inclined in the latter years of his life.

The minister of public instruction is the head of all establishments for education in Russia. This minister, in connexion with the synod of the Greek church and the consistories of other sects, superintends every measure that relates to the education of the nation and the moral character of the people. Without his direct permission, and that of the authorities subordinate to him, no establishment of education of any kind can exist; and nothing can be printed at home or introduced from abroad without being subjected to a most rigorous censorship, which is established in all parts of the empire. Notwithstanding this central administration, the establishments for education in the various parts of this heterogeneous empire have each their individual character, which depends on the origin and character of the various peoples who form the mass of the nation, and on the faith which they profess.

There are six great districts for education, the head-quarters in which are respectively the universities of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kasan, Charkow, Wilno, and Dorpat. The district of Moscow comprehends the governments of Moscow, Twer, Smolensk, Kaluga, Orel, Tula, Wladimir, Jaroslaw, Kostroma, Woronetz. That of Petersburg comprehends the government of Petersburg, and extends to Finland, and the government of Novgorod and Archangel. The district of Kasan comprises the governments of the south east; that of Charkow, those of the south; the district of Wilno, the provinces formerly Polish; while Dorpat contains the provinces on the Baltic-Esthonia, Livonia, Courland, and the government of Pskow. Each government is politically divided